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Debate on the mosque near ground zero

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Matt Sky, a freelance Web designer (l.) stands in the middle of a debate with New Yorkers on both sides of the debate surrounding the proposed Muslim center near the ground zero site in New York City's financial district. Sky's sign drew several reactions from pedestrians passing by the site at 51 Park Place. The proposed Muslim center which will be modeled largely after the Y.M.C.A. has polarized Americans across the country. Ann Hermes/Staff

Al Danzella (l.), Lori Anderson (c.) and Gerard Fiordalisi react during a rally held to oppose the construction of the proposed Muslim cultural center and mosque near the World Trade Center site in New York on Aug. 22. Jessican Rinaldi/Reuters

People participate in a rally against a proposed mosque and Islamic community center near ground zero in New York on Aug. 22. Seth Wenig/AP

Imam Feisal Abdul Rauf, executive director of the Cordoba Initiative, addresses a gathering as groups planning a proposed Islamic center, including a mosque, two blocks from the World Trade Center site to be named Cordoba House showed and spoke about their plans for the center at a community board meeting in New York on May 25. Craig Ruttle/AP

New York firefighters came out to demonstrate their opposition to the building of a Muslim center on 51 Park Place near Ground Zero on Aug. 22. The proposal of the Muslim center brought hundreds of New Yorkers out into the streets on both sides of the issue. Ann Hermes/Staff

New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg (c.), City Council Speaker Christine Quinn and local religious leaders voice their support for a proposed mosque near ground zero at a news conference on Governors Island in New York harbor with the Statue of Liberty in the background on Aug. 3. Seth Wenig/AP

The site of a proposed mosque on Park Place is seen in lower Manhattan in New York on Aug. 6. Seth Wenig/AP

Demonstrators in favor of the proposed Islamic center near ground zero rally on Church Avenue in lower Manhattan on Aug. 22. Opponents and supporters of the Islamic cultural center were separated by barricades and police officers as both groups demonstrated near the proposed site. Swoan Parker/AP

A group of bikers park near the site a proposed mosque and Islamic community center near ground zero in New York on Aug. 22. Seth Wenig/AP

President Obama hosts an iftar dinner, the meal that breaks the dawn-to-dusk fast for Muslims during the holy month of Ramadan, in the State Dining Room at the White House in Washington on Aug. 13. For over a billion Muslims, Ramadan is a time of intense devotion and reflection. Mr. Obama emphasized the American tenet of religious freedom just as New York City is immersed in a deeply sensitive debate about whether a mosque should be built near the site of the World Trade Center that was destroyed during the Sept. 11, 2001, terror attacks. J. Scott Applewhite/AP

Hundreds of protesters came out to oppose the building of a Muslim center near ground zero in New York City's financial district on Aug. 22. Ann Hermes/Staff